Hello everyone,

I want to buy a couple of prototyping boards (capes?) for the MSP430. What
I need is an equivalent to the Arduino prototyping shields, i.e, a PCB
which will plug into the Launchpad board with a proto typing area which I
can solder components to or put a small plugboard on to. Do they exist and
can I purchase them in the UK?

Thanks,

Steve G0XAR Start a New Thread

tHEY ARE CALLED bOOSTER PACKS BY tI AND THERE ARE LOADS OF THEM
AVAILABLE FROM tI'S WEBSITE. i don't know who else stocks them, but I
suspect Sparkfun will. They do a variety of preset boards, such as a
wifi board, etc, and I think I saw a straight proto board, but I haven't
been looking myself, so not 100% sure.

Al

On 12/05/2014 2:13 AM, Stephen Farthing s...@gmail.com [msp430] wrote:
> Hello everyone,
>
> I want to buy a couple of prototyping boards (capes?) for the MSP430.
> What I need is an equivalent to the Arduino prototyping shields, i.e,
> a PCB which will plug into the Launchpad board with a proto typing
> area which I can solder components to or put a small plugboard on to.
> Do they exist and can I purchase them in the UK?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Steve G0XAR
> Start a New Thread

On 11/05/2014 17:43, Stephen Farthing s...@gmail.com [msp430] wrote:
> Hello everyone,
>
> I want to buy a couple of prototyping boards (capes?) for the MSP430.
> What I need is an equivalent to the Arduino prototyping shields, i.e, a
> PCB which will plug into the Launchpad board with a proto typing area
> which I can solder components to or put a small plugboard on to. Do they
> exist and can I purchase them in the UK?
There are a couple here:

http://www.ti.com/ww/en/launchpad/boosterpacks.html

Leon
--
Leon Heller
G1HSM


Start a New Thread

On Sun, May 11, 2014 at 12:43 PM, Stephen Farthing s...@gmail.com[msp430] <
m...> wrote:

> I want to buy a couple of prototyping boards (capes?) for the MSP430.
What I need is an equivalent to the Arduino prototyping shields, i.e, a PCB
which will plug into the Launchpad board with a proto typing area which I
can solder components to or put a small plugboard on to. Do they exist and
can I purchase them in the UK?

Unlike the Arduino which uses non-standard spacing, you can use standard
0.1" protoboard for the MSP430 Launchpad. You can get that stuff anywhere,
and you can just score and snap it to your desired size.

-p. Start a New Thread

Steve,

I have a couple at my store. There are two versions: one with a solderless breadboard, and passthrough headers for stacking multiple booster packs, and a seperate version which is just the PCB - you would use the headers that come with the LaunchPad for this one.

Full kit - http://zenstore.granzeier.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=9 http://zenstore.granzeier.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=9
http://zenstore.granzeier.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=9
PCB alone - http://zenstore.granzeier.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=8 http://zenstore.granzeier.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=8

I discussed these products here a few years ago, while I was developing them. Perhaps these will meet your needs. Let me know if I can help you in any other ways.

Art
---In m..., wrote :

Hello everyone,

I want to buy a couple of prototyping boards (capes?) for the MSP430. What I need is an equivalent to the Arduino prototyping shields, i.e, a PCB which will plug into the Launchpad board with a proto typing area which I can solder components to or put a small plugboard on to. Do they exist and can I purchase them in the UK?

Thanks,

Steve G0XAR Start a New Thread

Hi Steve,
In the Launchpad ecosystem, capes are known as BoosterPacks.
The 43oh Store has a few prototyping BoosterPacks, available as a PCB or
kit:

$5 - 43oh - MSP430 Launchpad Prototyping
PCB
$10 - 43oh - MSP430 Launchpad Prototyping
Kit
$5 - The ProtoPad
BoosterPack
$5 - The ProtoPad[SMD]
BoosterPack

Thanks!
-Gerard
On Mon, May 12, 2014 at 6:27 PM, a...@granzeier.com [msp430] <
m...> wrote:

> Steve,
>
> I have a couple at my store. There are two versions: one with a
> solderless breadboard, and passthrough headers for stacking multiple
> booster packs, and a seperate version which is just the PCB - you would use
> the headers that come with the LaunchPad for this one.
>
> Full kit -
> http://zenstore.granzeier.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=9
>
> PCB alone -
> http://zenstore.granzeier.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=8
>
> I discussed these products here a few years ago, while I was developing
> them. Perhaps these will meet your needs. Let me know if I can help you
> in any other ways.
>
> Art
> ---In m..., wrote :
>
> Hello everyone,
>
> I want to buy a couple of prototyping boards (capes?) for the MSP430. What
> I need is an equivalent to the Arduino prototyping shields, i.e, a PCB
> which will plug into the Launchpad board with a proto typing area which I
> can solder components to or put a small plugboard on to. Do they exist and
> can I purchase them in the UK?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Steve G0XAR
>
>

--
MachineGrid - Robots,
Hacks and Technology.
43oh - MSP430
Discussion,
News and Projects.
C2KCentral - C2000 News, Projects and
Forums
Stellarisiti - Stellaris ARM Forums,
Projects and News. Start a New Thread

On Mon, May 12, 2014 at 6:27 PM, a...@granzeier.com [msp430] <
m...> wrote:

>
> Steve,
>
> I have a couple at my store. There are two versions: one with a
> solderless breadboard, and passthrough headers for stacking multiple
> booster packs
>



Hi Art,

I know they shouldn't be too hard to find, but would you happen to have a
manufacturer and part number for the passthrough headers you mentioned?

Thanks,

-John Start a New Thread

>
>

>

>
> Start a New Thread

That is true, I have not been keeping up with the newer MSP products. When TI first came out with the original LaunchPad, they were charging $4.30, deliivered. They looked so great, that I had to buy a few for myself to play with. When I received them, they were just crying out for breadboarding capability, so I played around with my CAD and designed the Boosters that I am selling now. You can read about my fling with the Launchpad here: ihttp://projects.granzeier.com/category/microcontrollers/msp-430/ti-launchpad/. http://projects.granzeier.com/category/microcontrollers/msp-430/ti-launchpad/

Unfortunately, TI seems to think that rank beginners are already proficient in C and embedded systems development. All of the beginner examples that I have found (for the 430 Launchpad (as well as other higher-level tools) were very complex, and huge. I went to one of their Stellaris intros, and the example program was several thousand lines long, and had 5 or 6 major functions.

My company caters to engineering students (from absolutely no experience, to lots of engineering experience but in disciplines other than EE,) and I start off with 2-3 line programs that will start off by just lighting a single LED. In this program, I will explain each and every statement, before moving on to the next program (how to turn the LED back off.)

I know that it is mostly my fault, but between TI's seemingly not caring about the beginning beginners, and my load of work on getting my company up and running, and on the Atmel stuff... well, I just have not kept up with the MSP line. I do keep up with the MSP on the side (hence my monitoring this group) and hopefully will get some time to get back to TI's stuff some day.

Just my input relating to the thread, a while back, on what is happening wiith the MSP line.

Art

---In m..., wrote :

Also check out the Olimex header boards:

https://www.olimex.com/Products/MSP430/Header/ https://www.olimex.com/Products/MSP430/Header/

They are available at digikey, mouser, sparkfun...

Unfortunately it seems he is not creating board for newer MSP's anymore, it
seems popularity of MSP's is going down (and towards ARM).

M. Start a New Thread

On Wed, May 14, 2014 at 9:31 PM, a...@granzeier.com [msp430] <
m...> wrote:

> Unfortunately, TI seems to think that rank beginners are already
> proficient in C and embedded systems development. All of the beginner
> examples that I have found (for the 430 Launchpad (as well as other
> higher-level tools) were very complex, and huge. I went to one of their
> Stellaris intros, and the example program was several thousand lines long,
> and had 5 or 6 major functions.
I respectfully disagree... Beginners can start with Energia(
http://energia.nu/ ) which has good backing from the community and TI. Start a New Thread